This invention relates to a wall-like or web-like structural component which, in service, is exposed to thermal stresses and which is supported at opposite ends. Such a structural component may be, for example, an intermediate wall in a multi-passage pipe of an exhaust system which may be associated with an internal combustion engine. It is noted that a wall-like or web-like structural component of the above-outlined type may generally find advantageous application where such a component--whether straight or curved--is exposed to compression stresses due to thermal expansion. Due to heat-caused expansion, such a component, with its opposite ends, exerts pressure on an adjacent structural component, thus risking impermissible deformations or unchecked destruction of one of the components.
For demonstrating the problem underlying the invention, a multi-passage pipe of an exhaust system will now be considered, such as disclosed, for example, in German Laid-Open Application (Offenlegungsschrift) No. 2,710,357. In the inside of the exhaust pipe there is provided a separating wall (hereafter "septum") which divides the inner space of the pipe into two separate flow passages. During the operation of the internal combustion engine with which the exhaust system is associated, the septum is heated to a substantially greater extent by the hot exhaust gases than the outer pipe wall which--in case of an internal combustion engine installed in an automotive vehicle--is cooled by an air stream during travel. The septum which thus constitutes the type of structural component with which the invention is concerned, seeks to expand and to thus increase the distance between its two ends connected with the outer pipe wall; this leads to an impermissible deformation of the cross-sectional configuration of the pipe. It is particularly troublesome if such deformation occurs at a location where an articulation for an additional pipe is provided.